Latest / Providence Baptist Church - Sermons / David and Goliath

Transcript

David and Goliath · Providence Baptist Church - Sermons

0:00
Well, good morning, everybody. Great to be back with you. Thank you for all your prayers over the past few weeks.
0:09
! Three Sundays ago, my family and myself had the flu, which a lot of you have had this year.
0:16
And the next weekend, we went to visit Ash and Janine Harris in D.C. for a few days.
0:23
Got to go to their church in D.C.
0:25
And this past Sunday, I had surgery and it kind of wiped me out.
0:33
And it still is kind of wiping me out, but I'm just really glad to be back today.
0:37
But before all that mayhem, we had started a series on the life of King David.
0:44
And you can go back online and follow that. If you go back maybe four weeks, you'll get back to that.
0:50
But David is one of my favorite Bible characters, one of the most intriguing men, I believe, in the Scripture.
0:59
And one of the most written about figures in the Scripture.
1:06
Sixty-six chapters of the Old Testament refer to David, and that's more than, I think, any other Old Testament character.
1:13
And he's referred to at least 59 times in the New Testament.
1:18
So whenever God does something like that, it demands our attention.
1:21
So the first message was basically about David's unique relationship with God and how we can look to that and emulate that by faith.
1:30
Being a man or woman after God's own heart and caring about what God sees on the inside, not just on the outward appearance.
1:38
David's heart.
2:08
This is a very familiar story, but I pray that the Lord uses the time today to show you some things that you might not have seen before and show it to you freshly.
2:18
But 3,000 years ago, in the valley of Elah, westward of Bethlehem in the hill country of Judah,
2:27
a massive man named Goliath of Gath stepped out to defy the armies of Israel and to defy Israel's God.
2:36
And for 40 days, he berated the Israelites, heaping shame on them because no one was trusting in God enough to actually go out and fight him to the death.
2:47
And it's one of the most well-known in the Bible.
2:50
I've already explained, like it's one of my girl's favorite stories now.
2:54
And David shows himself here better qualified to be the leader of the nation than even Saul does, who should be the example.
3:03
He steps out to be the nation's champion.
3:05
So, just really quickly, it's always just good to sort of define things, clarify things.
3:13
Most of you are good Bible readers and you know this, but many believe the story of David and Goliath just simply to be a story of personal courage,
3:23
self-confidence against overwhelming odds.
3:26
David is seen as the archetype of the ultimate underdog, like an Old Testament Rocky Balboa, so to speak,
3:33
and standing up against the arrogant and the powerful, self-confident, independent, brave young man
3:40
who will stand up and fight against things and defy the convention of the day, right?
3:46
Relying on his own strength and abilities rather than conform to what the norm is.
3:52
So, the popular story, as we all know, is get out there and face your giants, your fears, right?
4:01
Because the heroically courageous always come out on top.
4:04
Go out and face your giants.
4:06
Throw the stones of faith and take down your giants.
4:10
And a lot of well-meaning pastors and authors have written about this,
4:14
but ultimately, I don't really believe that's what this story is about.
4:18
It's true that David was courageous.
4:21
That's an essential thing.
4:23
But his courage was a derivative, a byproduct of something else.
4:29
It was being empowered by God's grace, faith in what God's power would do.
4:36
So, it's different.
4:37
It's not just like self-motivation.
4:39
It was driven by God himself.
4:41
So, and this story reads like an epic war movie.
4:45
So, one of my favorite genres of movies.
4:48
So, we're going to read it just like that.
4:50
Like, scene one, scene two.
4:53
We're going to walk through it in that way.
4:54
Eat this huge chapter, kind of piecemeal together.
4:59
So, scene one is the challenger of death.
5:05
The challenger of death.
5:06
We see this in verses 1 through 11.
5:10
First chapter 17, verse Samuel.
5:14
It says,
6:44
Verse 11 is important.
6:56
Verse 11.
6:57
Verse 11.
6:58
And the Philistines said,
6:59
I defy the ranks of Israel this day.
7:03
Give me a man that we may fight together.
7:08
Verse 11 is important.
7:10
And when Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.
7:16
So, I'm going to stop there for a second.
7:21
I apologize.
7:22
It would be a little short of breath.
7:24
So, usually I can move through this a lot faster.
7:27
But I'm going to be kind of like catching my breath, I think, as we go.
7:29
More of a crawl than a run.
7:32
So, notice the precision of the battlefield location in the first three verses.
7:37
You can go there and see it today.
7:39
I'm sure some of you have.
7:40
But the Philistines have, like, taken up battle and they've invaded this area and they've drawn up against each other.
7:47
So, either of the Philistines or the Israelites chose their battlefield well.
7:53
If you notice, like, one side's on this mountain and the other one's on the other.
7:58
So, in warfare, what that means is whoever moves first has a disadvantage because they could risk envelopment and they're losing the high ground.
8:07
So, it's like, it's kind of a, it's a good place to kind of stage a battle.
8:13
But not if you are necessarily going to be the attacker.
8:16
So, whoever moves first risks a lot.
8:20
The Philistines were an ancient people living off the coast of Canaan during the Iron Age.
8:27
It's a confederation of city-states probably from across the Aegean, probably somewhere close to Greece or somewhere else.
8:34
But they took on the Canaanite gods like Dagon and Baal.
8:39
And they were very well-equipped military.
8:44
They were heavily armed, more like Greek, what you would call heavy infantry in ancient warfare.
8:50
Not as where Israel was more lightly armed soldiers.
8:55
They moved in, like, a phalanx formation, like a really close network of shields and bronze.
9:01
So, whenever you hit it, you just kind of bounced off of it.
9:04
They would just sort of plow you over.
9:06
Now, it was sort of like the Greek hoplites.
9:08
And they also were known to have chariots pulled by two horses with a javelin or a bow and arrow.
9:14
So, the giant comes out in verse 4.
9:17
A champion from the Philistine camp.
9:20
A champion.
9:20
This is the only passage, to my knowledge, in the Scripture where the word champion is used.
9:26
And it just means the man between the two.
9:30
Between the two armies.
9:32
This champion idea is seen in ancient literature, Homeric literature, like Achilles was a champion.
9:40
Also in medieval warfare.
9:42
Where armies would choose one champion to fight for their side.
9:46
Stepping out to do combat between the two lines.
9:50
And rather than having each side just go at it and just hack each other and stab each other to death.
9:56
Resulting in a massive loss of life.
9:59
Often, they would choose their best warrior.
10:03
The one that was renowned for fighting prowess.
10:06
The one that everyone feared.
10:08
And he would go out and he would do battle with the opponent's champion.
10:12
And it was a winner-take-all kind of thing.
10:15
It was a gamble of sorts.
10:17
And the terms could be the loser becomes slaves of the winning side.
10:24
Becomes vassals of the winning side.
10:27
Sending crops.
10:29
Tribute.
10:30
Slaves.
10:31
To the winning side.
10:33
So it was definitely a winner-take-all situation.
10:37
Or the losing army could be called upon to fight with the winning army against another enemy.
10:43
So this was a lot to risk.
10:44
So the Philistines had chosen their champion.
10:47
If you notice anything about Goliath, everything in the description is meant to inspire fear.
10:53
To humanize.
10:55
Okay?
10:57
We have to kind of like do our best to like go back and put ourselves in this situation.
11:03
And everything about him is scary.
11:05
So much so that Saul and all of Israel were dismayed and greatly afraid.
11:10
They were terrified when they saw this.
11:13
So he was from Gath in Philistia.
11:19
And there's actually a piece of pottery that was found in the 10th or 9th century B.C.
11:24
That says Goliath on it.
11:26
Maybe that was him.
11:28
But his name means splendor.
11:30
And in this case, like terrifying splendor.
11:33
Something that you would not really want to face.
11:37
And it says that his height was six cubits and a span.
11:42
Basically almost 10 feet tall.
11:45
That's huge.
11:47
I grew up watching wrestling in the late 80s and early 90s.
11:50
I remember WrestleMania 3, Hulk Hogan versus Andre the Giant.
11:55
Andre the Giant, by the way, is 7 feet 4 inches, 520 pounds.
12:01
He's a big boy.
12:01
And maybe in a wrestling match, Andre might have taken Goliath.
12:05
I don't know.
12:06
But like it was this guy would have several feet on Andre the Giant.
12:12
Massive, massive guy.
12:14
Terrifying.
12:15
And he challenged the Israelites, it says, for 40 days in a row and mocked them and mocked our God.
12:22
And everyone was too cowardly to come out and face him.
12:25
But his weapons and his ornament were the best all of the time.
12:30
So he had a shield that basically covered the whole body, more or less.
12:35
It was mostly made of bronze, his armor.
12:39
Except the spear's head was iron.
12:41
And it weighed roughly 15 pounds.
12:43
So just the spearhead.
12:45
Like pick up a 15-pound dumbbell and try to throw that.
12:47
And see, like, that's pretty difficult.
12:50
That's like how heavy it is.
12:52
Then he had a coat of mail weighing 5,000 shekels.
12:55
So just his armor coat of mail was 125 pounds.
13:01
So he could be carrying some of you around as his armor.
13:06
So very scary.
13:09
Saul, it says, was afraid.
13:11
So again, we go back to Saul from the last message.
13:13
He was cowering in fear.
13:16
Terrible to see, like, the man is supposed to be the leader,
13:19
supposed to be the one who inspires faith in his people.
13:23
He's standing there terrified and afraid.
13:26
That's why pastors and shepherds must be.
13:29
Scene 2, that's all scene 1.
13:31
So scene 2, number 2, scene 2.
13:35
Back on the home front.
13:38
All right, this is verses 12 through 18.
13:40
Now David was the son of the Ephraimite of Bethlehem and Judah,
13:50
named Jesse, who had eight sons.
13:54
In the days of Saul, the man was already old and advanced in years.
13:59
And the three oldest sons of Jesse had followed Saul to the battle.
14:02
And the names of these three sons who went to battle were Elah, the firstborn,
14:08
and the next to him, Abinadab, and the third was Shammah.
14:11
David was the youngest.
14:14
The three eldest followed Saul.
14:16
But David went back and forth from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem.
14:22
For 40 days the Philistine came out and took his stand morning and evening.
14:27
And Jesse said to David his son,
14:30
Take for your brothers an ephah of these.
14:35
Also take these ten cheeses to the commander of their thousand.
14:39
See if your brothers are well and bring some token from them.
14:44
So, in short, you know, what we see here is that on the home front,
14:49
David is just being faithful, maybe being left out as the younger brother.
14:54
Already just being content at home, feeding his father's sheep.
14:57
But in this case, Jesse probably being, it says he's older in years,
15:01
can't really make the journey himself.
15:03
He tells David, Take some of this food, take some of the supplies,
15:06
and take it to your brothers on the front lines.
15:09
So food is essential to an army.
15:12
Napoleon once said, An army marches on its stomach,
15:16
meaning that you can't maintain an effective fighting force without good food.
15:20
So he sends David to take the supplies and deliver the food to his brothers on the front line.
15:29
And so that's what happens.
15:31
So then the next part of this, scene three, is the arrival of the shepherd boy.
15:37
All right?
15:37
This is David showing up to the battlefield.
15:40
This is scene three.
15:41
Excuse me.
15:45
Verse 19.
15:47
Now Saul and they and all the men of Israel were in the valley of Elah fighting with the Philistines.
15:56
And David rose early in the morning and left the sheep with a keeper and took the provisions and went,
16:02
as Jesse had commanded him.
16:05
And he came to the encampment as the host of battle, army against army.
16:12
And David left the things in charge of the keeper of the baggage and ran to the ranks and went to greet his brothers.
16:19
And he talked with them.
16:20
And behold, the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name,
16:24
came up out of the ranks of the Philistines and spoke the same words as before.
16:30
And like, here's the key verse.
16:31
And David heard him.
16:34
David heard him.
16:36
So he got up early that morning at his father's command to go and deliver the supplies to his brothers.
16:43
And right when he shows up on the scene, the armies are just kind of shuffling out of their camps to come face each other.
16:49
So he got there right at a pretty, you know, critical moment.
16:53
And across the ravine, he hears a giant shouting insults to God's people and against God.
17:04
So try to imagine what David saw when he came over that last rise.
17:08
And he looked down in this valley and saw two Iron Age armies drawn up against each other, banging their shields and their swords, trying to intimidate the other side.
17:19
It must have been an alien sight to him because he lived his whole life mainly in solitude out in the wilderness areas.
17:26
It was really exhilarating probably for him and scary.
17:31
David transfers the supplies to the right person.
17:34
Then he rushes over and he hears Goliath.
17:37
And little as you know, Goliath has ticked off the wrong person and bullied the one guy who wouldn't tolerate it.
17:46
But much to his dismay, he's standing there and everybody else runs away.
17:50
And he's like, whoa, what's happening?
17:52
Why is everybody running right now?
17:54
He's kind of shocked and disgusted.
17:57
Think about it.
17:57
Like he might have, like, admired his older brothers.
18:01
He admired King Saul.
18:02
And now he's seeing them run.
18:05
Like what that must have actually done to his state of mind to see people that he might have looked up to run cowering before Goliath.
18:14
So we see, excuse me, in the next part of this, that verse 24, verse 24.
18:25
Verse 24,
18:55
For the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach of Israel?
19:00
For who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he may defy the armies of the living God?
19:06
And the people answered him in the same way.
19:09
So shall it be done to the man who kills him.
19:13
Now Elab, his eldest brother, heard when he had spoken to the men.
19:17
And Elab's anger was kindled against David.
19:19
And he said,
19:20
Why have you come down?
19:23
And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness?
19:29
I know your presumption and the evil of your heart.
19:32
For you have come to see the battle.
19:34
Come down to see the battle.
19:36
And David said,
19:37
What have I done now?
19:41
What,
19:41
Was it not but a word?
19:44
And he turned away from them together and spoke in the same way.
19:48
And the people answered him as before.
19:50
So we see something kind of happen here.
19:54
We see David reacting to what he hears.
19:58
So Saul was so desperate to find somebody to like face Goliath that he kind of upped the ante.
20:03
Like,
20:03
Alright,
20:04
Alright guys.
20:05
Like,
20:05
Look,
20:05
You're going to get great riches.
20:07
You can marry my daughter.
20:08
You can be a part of the royal family.
20:10
Your family can be free in Israel.
20:13
Like,
20:14
What a deal,
20:14
Right?
20:14
But still,
20:15
No takers.
20:16
Everyone is still afraid.
20:18
So just picture the moment.
20:19
He's standing there and he hears Goliath cry out.
20:22
He sees everybody run.
20:24
And remember,
20:25
Like,
20:25
David had never seen a giant before.
20:27
And he had never,
20:28
He didn't come to this battlefield to fight.
20:31
Just,
20:32
I mean,
20:32
You ever gone throughout your day and no plan for what happened and it just did?
20:36
And you find yourself caught completely by surprise?
20:40
He just came to deliver supplies to his brothers.
20:43
That's it.
20:43
He didn't come to pick a fight with the Philistine champion.
20:47
And he is livid though.
20:50
He is angry.
20:51
He is ticked off.
20:52
And he goes,
20:53
Just,
20:54
He's shocked.
20:55
Whoa,
20:55
What just happened?
20:57
No one talks to our God like this.
21:00
Who does this,
21:00
You know,
21:01
Punk think he is?
21:03
Wait,
21:03
Why is everybody running away?
21:05
As soon as he's thinking that.
21:06
And,
21:06
He's finding himself,
21:08
This has been going for 40 days,
21:10
Right?
21:10
But this is the first time that David heard it.
21:14
And he wasn't intimidated.
21:15
And he wasn't impressed.
21:17
He hears Goliath's words.
21:19
And he thinks that they're ridiculous.
21:20
Considering that they are aimed at the armies of the living God.
21:25
Right?
21:27
And,
21:27
In verse 26,
21:28
Look at verse 26.
21:30
Basically saying,
21:32
So,
21:32
What's in it for the guy who kills this loser who's mocking us and our God?
21:37
But don't be fooled.
21:38
He's not looking out for his own interests.
21:40
Because it says in the next verse,
21:42
Who is this uncircumcised Philistine?
21:45
That he should defy the armies of the living God.
21:48
Now that verse nails it on the head.
21:50
Okay?
21:51
Basically,
21:52
If you go back,
21:54
If you remember,
21:55
Goliath trash talked the men and spat on not just their personal honor,
22:00
But God's honor.
22:02
He has defied the living God.
22:04
And David knows that God's reputation is tied to his people.
22:09
So when he mocks this hot,
22:12
Holy zeal,
22:14
A jealousy for God's glory and honor.
22:18
To give you a definition really quickly,
22:21
What biblical zeal is.
22:24
Zeal is an overpowering, strong, burning desire to honor God.
22:30
A fervor to do his will in advance and fiercely defend his glory.
22:36
Alright?
22:36
It's this burning passion that is not given by humans,
22:40
But it comes by the Holy Spirit.
22:43
A passion for God's glory.
22:46
Do not be slothful in zeal.
22:48
Be fervent in the Spirit.
22:50
Serve the Lord, Paul said.
22:52
So interesting,
22:53
David didn't come down to do battle,
22:54
But now he's about to actually get into something that he didn't intend originally.
22:59
But surprisingly,
23:00
Again,
23:00
He's the only one who's defended.
23:02
Like, that's kind of surprising to him.
23:04
That no one else thinks this is a big deal.
23:07
But he understands,
23:08
Like, don't be deceived.
23:09
God will not be mocked.
23:10
Like, he understands that.
23:12
So, listen to what Spurgeon says about this.
23:15
It makes an inference into this text really quickly.
23:17
He said,
23:48
He has holy rage is upon him.
23:53
Yes, it is true.
23:54
He hears that Jehovah has been blasphemed.
23:57
How can this be?
23:59
The youth's holy soul is undergoing a new experience.
24:03
I mean, he had never heard of somebody doing this to God before.
24:07
He is bringing his whole life to bear upon it.
24:11
He reaches the conclusion that just as bears and lions die when they meddle with the sheep,
24:16
So must Goliath fall now that he dares to attack the Lord and his people.
24:22
So this holy zeal, guys,
24:24
Like, we tend to just think that it's just unique to certain Christians.
24:29
But it's something that we're commanded to pursue with God's help in the Holy Spirit.
24:35
So do you have a burning zeal for God and his glory?
24:40
Does it bring fire to your obedience when God's name is defamed,
24:49
manipulated by false teachers or best-selling books?
24:54
Does it burn deep in your soul to fight for God's reputation and glory?
24:59
As Jude says,
25:00
Contend earnestly for the faith.
25:03
Fight for the truth like a soldier being entrusted with the task of guarding a holy treasure.
25:11
This is David.
25:12
But then we see something after David speaks up that just really can be discouraging.
25:18
His brother, his oldest brother, Elam, seems annoyed.
25:22
This is in verse 28.
25:24
Annoyed with the conduct of his little brother at this crucial time.
25:28
He thinks he's a show-off.
25:29
He thinks he's being arrogant.
25:31
And perhaps, maybe though, he's just being eaten up with jealousy since Samuel passed over him
25:36
and chose David over him.
25:39
And we don't really know, but another guess is that probably safe to assume,
25:46
now think about this,
25:48
David's genuine zeal and love for God
25:51
exposed his own insecurities in his relationship with God.
25:56
And he's risked of being exposed.
26:00
Fear of being shown up by his little brother.
26:03
And maybe deep down,
26:04
covets that relationship with God that his little brother has.
26:09
So, not sure, but regardless,
26:11
this is the time to get his shot in.
26:13
He's like,
26:13
you know,
26:14
why are you really here, little bro?
26:15
Like, don't you have some sheep to look after?
26:16
Like, why did you come today?
26:18
And David's response really is like,
26:20
man, look, geez,
26:21
I just came obeying our Father
26:24
and like bringing you the supplies.
26:27
And listen to what he says, Elam.
26:29
He's like,
26:29
the truth is,
26:30
he's exposing his own presumption and evil in his heart
26:34
as a result,
26:36
not David's.
26:37
And so David's like,
26:39
the real question is,
26:40
not what am I doing here,
26:41
but what are we going to do about this giant
26:42
who is defying God?
26:46
That's the real question.
26:48
So,
26:49
have you ever been there before,
26:50
ever had a clear direction from the Lord
26:52
given to you by his word
26:53
and zeal to follow and sacrifice him
26:56
and someone tries to squelch your zeal?
26:59
Even more discouraging
27:01
when it's one of God's own people
27:02
who tries to jump on your zeal?
27:06
And they should be encouraging you
27:09
and praying for you,
27:10
but instead they're being an instrument
27:12
of despair,
27:14
often a very lonely place to be
27:17
in following God.
27:18
On the other hand,
27:20
have you found yourself
27:21
in the place of Elam,
27:23
seeking to discourage
27:24
and tear down,
27:26
throwing cold water on another zeal
27:28
because it makes you feel insecure
27:31
about your own love for God?
27:34
There's some things to think about,
27:35
but this gets on to scene four.
27:37
All right?
27:39
Scene four is,
27:41
death meets its challenger.
27:44
All right?
27:45
Death meets its challenger.
27:47
This is in verse 31.
27:50
Verse 31.
27:51
When the words that David spoke were heard,
27:55
they repeated them before Saul,
27:58
and he sent for him.
28:00
And David said to Saul,
28:02
let no man's heart fail because of him.
28:05
Your servant will go out
28:06
and fight with this Philistine.
28:08
And Saul said to David,
28:09
you are not able to go up against this Philistine
28:11
to fight with him,
28:13
for you are but a youth.
28:16
And he has been a man of war
28:18
from his youth.
28:20
But David said to Saul,
28:22
your servant used to keep sheep for his father.
28:26
And when there came a lion or a bear
28:29
and took a lamb from the flock,
28:31
I went after him and I struck him
28:33
and delivered him out of his mouth.
28:35
And if he rose against me,
28:38
I caught him by his beard
28:41
and struck him and killed him.
28:43
Your servant has struck down
28:45
both lions and bears,
28:47
and this uncircumcised Philistine
28:49
shall be like one of them,
28:51
for he has defied the armies of the living God.
28:54
That's the third time he's actually said that.
28:57
And David said,
28:59
the Lord who delivered me
29:00
from the paw of the lion
29:02
and the paw of the bear
29:03
will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.
29:06
And Saul said to David,
29:07
go and the Lord be with you.
29:10
Then Saul clothed David in his armor.
29:14
He put a helmet of bronze on his head
29:17
and clothed him with a coat of mail.
29:19
And David strapped his sword over his armor.
29:21
And he tried in vain to go,
29:24
for he had not tested them.
29:26
Then David said to Saul,
29:27
I can't go with these,
29:30
for I have not tested them.
29:32
So David put them off,
29:33
and he took his staff in hand
29:34
and chose five smooth stones from the brook
29:37
and put them in his shepherd's pouch.
29:40
His sling was in his hand,
29:42
and he approached the Philistine.
29:43
So notice in verse 31 and 32,
29:47
we learned that Saul heard what David was saying
29:53
and said, hey, bring this guy to me.
29:55
This guy sounds different than everybody else.
29:57
Bring him to me.
29:58
And we've had no takers on fighting Goliath,
30:01
so maybe this guy will.
30:03
But he basically tries to disparage him.
30:06
Like, look at yourself.
30:07
You're just a little guy.
30:08
This guy you're about to fight
30:09
has been a warrior his entire life.
30:11
He's killed hundreds of men.
30:12
And you don't know what you're getting into.
30:15
He's a champion.
30:17
You're not.
30:17
You're just a shepherd.
30:19
And David, though,
30:19
like just stands there
30:20
and like doesn't blink.
30:23
You know what that phrase means?
30:24
Like he doesn't blink.
30:24
He just goes like, so what?
30:26
Like, what's your point, sir?
30:28
I don't really see the big deal.
30:31
David says, I've killed lions and bears,
30:33
very dangerous predators,
30:35
and this Philistine will be no different.
30:38
He really believes that.
30:39
Like, he really believes that
30:40
this is not going to be any different.
30:42
And God delivered me
30:45
from the paw of the lion
30:46
and the paw of the bear.
30:48
Sounds like something out of a Daniel Boone movie.
30:51
And he's like,
30:51
David is confident
30:53
that God will defend his honor
30:55
against this person who mocks him.
30:58
He knows it.
31:00
And the Lord will deliver him, he says.
31:03
He has this unshakable confidence in God.
31:06
So he goes out to do battle
31:07
on behalf of God's people
31:09
and defend God's honor,
31:11
seemingly, you know,
31:12
without any other support
31:14
from the outside.
31:16
So David goes for it.
31:18
Saul agrees to let him fight.
31:20
He prepares for battle.
31:21
And as a lot of you know,
31:23
armor is personalized.
31:25
It's not a one-size-fits-all
31:27
like it's personally made.
31:28
And so Saul is a really big guy,
31:31
and obviously this did not fit David.
31:33
And he takes it all off.
31:34
And he's like,
31:35
man, I appreciate your gesture,
31:36
your majesty,
31:36
but I'm just going to stick
31:38
with the weapons that I know.
31:40
And he grabs the weapons
31:43
of the shepherd,
31:44
the staff and the sling.
31:46
Don't be fooled, though.
31:48
Like a sling could be
31:49
a pretty deadly weapon,
31:51
if not just a disorienting one.
31:53
Stones can be thrown
31:55
up to 100 miles an hour.
31:56
So go try it at home later.
32:02
And it could be
32:03
a very effective mid-range weapon.
32:06
And some historians believe,
32:09
maybe, this is just an inference,
32:11
we don't know this for sure,
32:12
but Goliath's size
32:14
might have actually
32:15
impaired his vision.
32:16
I don't know if you know that,
32:17
but if you're a giant,
32:18
you have impaired vision
32:19
a lot of the time.
32:20
And actually mentions
32:21
that his shield bearer
32:24
like led him out
32:25
into the battlefield.
32:26
Notice that.
32:27
So if that's true,
32:28
this is not the weapon
32:29
that Goliath really wants to face.
32:32
But that's not really the point.
32:34
The point is,
32:35
God is ready to defend
32:36
his honor here.
32:37
And he gets five stones.
32:40
Possibly,
32:40
because Goliath had four brothers.
32:42
We don't know.
32:43
But he might be thinking,
32:44
if they jump in,
32:45
I'm going to take them out too.
32:47
We don't know.
32:48
But this goes on
32:49
in the scene five.
32:52
Death is vanquished.
32:56
Verse 44,
32:57
41 through 44.
32:59
And the Philistine
33:00
moved forward
33:01
and came near David
33:02
with his shield bearer
33:04
in front of him.
33:06
And when the Philistine
33:07
looked and saw David,
33:09
he disdained him,
33:10
for he was but a youth,
33:12
ruddy and handsome
33:13
in appearance.
33:15
And Philistine said to David,
33:16
am I a dog?
33:17
Do you come to me
33:18
with sticks?
33:19
Talking about the staff.
33:21
And the Philistine
33:22
cursed David
33:23
by his gods.
33:24
Uh-oh.
33:24
So,
33:25
this is becoming
33:26
more of a spiritual battle now.
33:27
Cursed David
33:28
by his gods.
33:29
The Philistine said to David,
33:31
come to me,
33:31
come to me,
33:33
and I will give your flesh
33:34
to the birds of the air
33:35
and to the beasts
33:37
of the field.
33:38
And David said to the Philistine,
33:40
you come to me
33:41
with a sword
33:43
and with a spear
33:44
and with a javelin.
33:45
But I come to you
33:46
in the name
33:47
of the Lord of hosts,
33:49
the God of the armies
33:50
of Israel,
33:51
whom you have defiled.
33:53
This day the Lord
33:54
will deliver you
33:55
into my hand
33:55
and I will strike you down
33:57
and cut off your head.
33:59
And I will give
34:00
your dead bodies
34:01
of the hosts
34:02
of the Philistines
34:02
this day
34:03
to the birds of the air
34:04
and the wild beasts
34:06
of the earth.
34:07
Here's the reason
34:08
that all the earth
34:09
may know
34:09
that there is a God
34:11
in Israel.
34:12
And all the assembly
34:13
may know
34:14
that the Lord saves,
34:17
not with sword
34:18
and spear,
34:19
for the battle
34:20
is the Lord's
34:21
and He will give you
34:21
into our hand.
34:23
And when the Philistine
34:24
arose and came out
34:25
and drew near
34:26
to meet David,
34:27
David ran quickly
34:29
toward the battle line
34:30
to meet the Philistine.
34:33
And David put his hand
34:34
in his bag
34:35
and took out a stone
34:36
and swung it
34:37
and struck the Philistine
34:38
on the forehead.
34:40
The stone sank
34:41
into his forehead
34:41
and he fell face
34:42
to the ground.
34:44
So,
34:45
wow.
34:47
You see,
34:48
when he first shows up,
34:49
Goliath only has
34:50
contempt for him.
34:51
Like,
34:51
whoa,
34:51
what is this?
34:53
Who is this little kid,
34:54
this little pretty boy
34:55
that y'all send out
34:56
to fight?
34:57
And he goes,
34:57
come here.
34:58
Come here,
34:58
little boy.
34:59
Like,
34:59
I'll show you
35:00
what's up.
35:01
And David goes,
35:01
okay,
35:02
I'm ready.
35:03
And so he runs
35:04
to meet Goliath.
35:06
And he goes,
35:07
all this is going
35:08
to happen
35:08
so that the world
35:09
may know
35:10
that there is a God
35:11
in Israel
35:12
and that it is he alone
35:13
who saves.
35:15
So he strikes him
35:16
in the head,
35:17
knocks him down,
35:19
knocks him down.
35:21
That holy,
35:22
holy trash talk,
35:23
if you want to call it that.
35:24
And he mentions
35:25
God's honor again,
35:27
again for the third time,
35:28
drawing your attention
35:29
to a bigger story.
35:30
And then he invokes
35:31
the names of,
35:32
Goliath invokes
35:33
the name of his God.
35:34
So this is not now
35:35
just a fight
35:36
between two men
35:37
or two nations.
35:38
This is more
35:38
of a spiritual battle
35:40
that's going on
35:41
about the true
35:43
and holy God
35:44
versus false,
35:45
pagan,
35:45
demonic gods.
35:47
And David drops him
35:48
like a bad habit.
35:50
God's honor
35:51
is upheld.
35:52
It's embarrassing.
35:54
Okay?
35:55
Like,
35:56
I used to do
35:57
a little bit of boxing
35:58
when I was in high school
35:59
and early college,
36:00
just for fun,
36:01
nothing serious.
36:02
But we used to go,
36:03
my friend Dustin's,
36:04
back porch,
36:06
and the guys
36:07
would go back
36:07
in the yard.
36:08
We'd hit a stopwatch
36:09
for five minutes
36:09
and guys would just,
36:11
for five minutes,
36:12
and we would choose
36:13
who won.
36:14
But,
36:14
there was this one guy
36:17
who showed up one day.
36:17
His name was,
36:19
excuse me,
36:22
his name was
36:24
Adrian.
36:26
And Adrian was actually
36:27
a trained
36:28
kickboxer.
36:30
Like,
36:30
he actually did
36:31
real kickboxing.
36:32
And he showed up
36:33
and he just started
36:34
talking trash.
36:35
Like,
36:36
man,
36:36
y'all don't know
36:37
what you're doing.
36:37
And like,
36:38
man,
36:38
you don't want me
36:38
to get in there.
36:39
And just sort of
36:40
ran his mouth
36:40
for a while.
36:41
And he just probably
36:42
thought no one
36:43
was like crazy enough
36:44
to take him up.
36:45
We had a friend
36:45
named Josh
36:46
who was like,
36:47
like,
36:48
really tough guy,
36:49
football player,
36:51
a little off,
36:52
you know what I mean.
36:54
But he was our friend.
36:56
And Josh was like,
36:56
dude,
36:57
I'll fight you.
36:58
And he was like,
36:59
no you won't.
36:59
You won't fight me.
37:00
He's like,
37:01
no,
37:01
I'm serious.
37:01
Let's do it.
37:02
And he goes,
37:03
whoa,
37:03
well,
37:04
you may need to sign
37:05
a waiver.
37:06
He said that.
37:06
You may need to sign
37:07
a waiver
37:08
because I could put you
37:09
in the hospital.
37:10
And Josh's like,
37:11
man,
37:11
shut up.
37:11
I don't care.
37:12
Like,
37:12
come on.
37:13
Let's do this.
37:14
So,
37:15
there's two pair of gloves.
37:16
One's like the big thick
37:17
boxing gloves.
37:19
And the other is like
37:20
thin bag gloves.
37:21
You know the difference?
37:22
Like the bag gloves
37:23
are like just for the little,
37:24
you don't want to get hit
37:25
with a bag glove.
37:26
It hurts.
37:27
So Adrian's like,
37:27
look,
37:27
man,
37:27
I'll give you the bag gloves
37:29
and I'll wear the thick ones.
37:31
Okay,
37:31
whatever.
37:32
He just talked a lot of trash.
37:33
And then like,
37:34
we're up there on the porch
37:35
and we're like,
37:35
come on,
37:35
get him,
37:36
Josh.
37:36
And he comes out there
37:39
and Adrian tries to swing at him
37:42
and Josh just goes,
37:45
bang,
37:45
best uppercut you ever saw.
37:47
And like,
37:48
Adrian was knocked out.
37:50
Like,
37:50
the whole thing lasted
37:51
maybe four seconds.
37:52
And it was like embarrassing.
37:54
You're at the,
37:54
oh,
37:56
like,
37:57
it was kind of like that.
37:59
But on steroids
38:00
in this story
38:01
that God took this guy out
38:02
and now all of Israel
38:04
is going,
38:04
oh,
38:05
like,
38:06
you are done.
38:08
And so,
38:09
scene six,
38:10
the aftermath,
38:12
the aftermath of the battle.
38:15
So,
38:16
verse 50,
38:16
so David
38:17
prevailed over the Philistine
38:19
with sling
38:19
and with stone
38:21
and struck the Philistine
38:22
and killed him.
38:24
There was no sword
38:25
in the hand of David.
38:27
Then David ran
38:28
and stood over the Philistine,
38:29
took out his sword
38:30
and drew it
38:30
out of its sheath
38:31
and killed him
38:32
and cut off his head with it.
38:34
When the Philistine
38:35
saw their champion was dead,
38:37
they fled.
38:38
And the men of Israel
38:39
and Judah
38:40
rose with a shout
38:42
and pursued the Philistines
38:43
as far as Gath
38:45
in the gates of Ekron.
38:47
So the wounded Philistines
38:49
fell on the way
38:50
from Shemaria
38:52
as far as Gath
38:55
and Ekron.
38:56
And the people of Israel
38:57
came from chasing
38:58
the Philistines
38:59
and they plundered their camp.
39:01
And David took the head
39:02
of the Philistine
39:03
and brought it
39:04
to Jerusalem.
39:06
But he put his armor
39:07
in his tent.
39:09
And soon as Saul
39:10
saw David
39:11
go out against the Philistine,
39:13
he said to Abner,
39:14
the commander of the armor,
39:16
Abner,
39:16
whose son is this youth?
39:19
And Abner said,
39:20
as your soul lives,
39:22
O king,
39:22
I do not know.
39:23
And the king said,
39:24
inquire whose son
39:25
the boy is.
39:28
And as soon as David
39:29
returned
39:30
from striking down
39:32
the Philistine,
39:32
Abner took him
39:33
and brought him
39:34
before Saul
39:34
with the head
39:36
of the Philistine
39:36
in his hand.
39:38
And Saul said to him,
39:39
whose son are you,
39:41
young man?
39:42
And David answered,
39:43
I am the son
39:44
of your servant,
39:45
Jesse the Bethlehemite.
39:47
So there's our text.
39:48
So he sees the beheading.
39:51
We see the beheading here.
39:52
He cut off his head.
39:53
A great sign of like
39:54
dishonor
39:55
for a warrior.
39:57
He kept his vow.
39:58
Like I'm going to do this
40:00
to you
40:00
because you have
40:01
inspired shame
40:03
upon the God of Israel.
40:05
So this was common.
40:06
This was like
40:06
God's trophies of war.
40:08
Like he took it.
40:09
It inspired the men.
40:10
So they rushed into battle
40:12
and they finished the job.
40:14
And then later
40:14
there was a total rout.
40:15
Ran them off.
40:16
Killed many of them.
40:17
And Saul inquires,
40:18
like who is this guy?
40:19
Bring him to me
40:19
because I need to speak with him.
40:21
I want to call him
40:22
into my service.
40:24
He inquires about
40:25
David's family,
40:26
his social background.
40:28
He hadn't met David before
40:29
but probably just didn't know
40:30
a lot about him.
40:31
And he asked his father
40:32
to let him remain.
40:34
So in closing,
40:37
what an amazing story.
40:38
But we would fail,
40:40
we would fail
40:42
to miss what God
40:43
wants us to see
40:45
if we just see this
40:46
as an inspirational,
40:47
heroic story
40:48
of the underdog.
40:50
It points to a greater one
40:52
obviously to come.
40:53
We know that to be
40:54
the Lord Jesus Christ.
40:56
And as you read
40:57
the story of David,
40:58
we see many, many,
40:59
many connections
41:00
to Christ.
41:02
David's family
41:03
was from Bethlehem.
41:04
Jesus
41:05
was from Bethlehem.
41:06
Matthew 2.1
41:07
David was a shepherd.
41:10
Jesus is a shepherd.
41:11
He's the shepherd of souls,
41:13
the good shepherd,
41:14
John 10.11.
41:15
And we see that David's zeal
41:17
to fight for God's glory,
41:18
we see that mirrored
41:19
in Christ's zeal
41:21
when he drove out
41:22
the money changers
41:23
from the temple
41:24
in John 2.
41:24
So so many,
41:26
on and on,
41:26
we could go.
41:28
But this greater thing
41:29
is that we see
41:30
a deliverance
41:31
that is foreshadowed.
41:34
Just as God
41:35
works Israel's deliverance
41:36
through David,
41:37
so God works
41:39
international salvation
41:40
through Christ
41:41
who defeats sin,
41:43
death,
41:44
and Satan.
41:46
David,
41:46
by his confidence
41:47
in and relationship
41:48
with God,
41:51
functions as a
41:52
representative champion
41:53
on behalf
41:55
of his cowering people.
41:57
Christ,
41:58
similarly,
42:00
is a representative
42:01
champion
42:01
of his helpless people.
42:03
people.
42:05
So in our story today,
42:06
we see Goliath
42:07
as a type
42:08
of Satan
42:09
bringing death,
42:11
just as David
42:12
was a type
42:12
of Christ
42:13
bringing deliverance.
42:14
This goes back
42:15
to the age-old struggle
42:17
right after the fall
42:18
in Genesis 3.15
42:20
when God says
42:21
to Satan,
42:22
I will put
42:23
enmity between you
42:24
and the woman
42:24
between your offspring
42:25
and her offspring.
42:27
He shall bruise
42:28
your head
42:28
and you shall
42:29
bruise his heel.
42:31
This goes back
42:32
to that
42:32
ancient day.
42:34
And such an example
42:35
was seen today
42:36
in the story of David,
42:37
the righteous seed
42:38
of the woman
42:39
and Goliath,
42:40
the unrighteous,
42:41
!
42:41
the unrighteous,
42:41
!
42:41
evil seed
42:42
of the serpent.
42:43
And notice
42:45
all the connections.
42:46
How long
42:46
did Goliath
42:49
mock the man?
42:50
Forty days.
42:52
Jesus
42:53
faced Satan
42:54
in the wilderness
42:55
for forty days
42:57
and stood the test.
42:59
There's so many
42:59
connections here.
43:02
Notice that
43:02
when David
43:03
struck Goliath
43:04
in the head,
43:05
he fell
43:05
on his face
43:07
and he
43:08
beheaded him,
43:10
prefiguring
43:11
a greater victory
43:12
of Jesus
43:13
over Satan
43:15
and then
43:15
destroying him
43:16
on his belly,
43:19
disarming him
43:19
at the cross
43:20
and then destroying him
43:21
at the final judgment
43:23
of Revelation 20.
43:25
Jesus has defeated
43:26
the greatest enemy,
43:27
sin,
43:28
death,
43:29
and Satan
43:30
on our behalf
43:31
as our champion
43:32
and we live
43:34
in that victory
43:35
that he won
43:35
for us
43:36
received
43:37
by faith.
43:39
Hebrews 2
43:41
verse 14
43:43
Hebrews 2
43:44
verse 14
43:45
scripture says
43:45
Christ himself
43:47
likewise
43:48
partook
43:49
of the same
43:49
things
43:50
that through
43:51
death
43:51
he might
43:52
destroy
43:52
the one
43:53
who has
43:53
the power
43:54
of death
43:54
that is
43:55
the devil
43:56
and deliver
43:57
all those
43:57
who through
43:58
fear of death
43:59
were subject
44:00
to lifelong
44:00
slavery.
44:02
Hebrews 2
44:03
verse 14
44:03
through 15
44:04
Jesus' death
44:06
cleansed
44:07
his followers,
44:08
cleansed us
44:09
of sin
44:10
destroys the
44:12
grip of death
44:13
of the devil,
44:15
gives hope
44:16
and deliverance
44:17
to those
44:17
who are
44:18
previously
44:18
living in
44:19
slavery
44:19
and fear
44:21
of death.
44:22
Death is scary.
44:24
He delivers us
44:25
from that.
44:26
So Christians
44:27
today,
44:28
us,
44:29
here today,
44:30
we're not merely
44:30
meant to read
44:31
the story
44:32
of David
44:32
and Goliath
44:33
as a
44:33
just simply
44:36
to imitate
44:37
David,
44:38
but we're also
44:39
to look at
44:40
this image
44:41
of a people
44:41
who need
44:42
saving.
44:43
We must
44:44
reflect
44:44
and rescue
44:45
on the
44:46
one true
44:47
and final
44:47
champion
44:48
Jesus Christ
44:49
who won
44:50
on our
44:51
behalf
44:51
so that our
44:53
hearts are
44:53
moved to
44:54
worship him
44:55
and trust him
44:56
in a greater
44:57
way
44:57
and have
44:58
zeal
44:58
for his
44:59
glory.
45:01
So as
45:01
the song
45:03
that we
45:03
sing goes
45:04
and we'll
45:04
close with
45:05
this,
45:06
Christ the
45:07
true and
45:07
better
45:08
David,
45:09
lowly
45:10
shepherd,
45:10
mighty
45:11
king,
45:12
he the
45:13
champion
45:13
in the
45:14
battle,
45:15
where,
45:15
oh death,
45:16
is now
45:16
thy sting.
45:18
In our
45:18
place he
45:19
bled and
45:19
conquered,
45:20
crown him
45:21
now Lord
45:22
of majesty.
45:23
He shall
45:24
be the
45:24
throne
45:25
forever,
45:25
we shall
45:26
are his
45:26
people be.
45:28
Amen,
45:29
amen,
45:30
from beginning
45:30
to end.
45:31
Christ the
45:31
story,
45:32
his the
45:33
glory,
45:34
hallelujah,
45:34
amen.
45:37
Let's pray
45:37
together.